HACKETT, William

William Hackett attended Halesowen C of E school and was living in Blackheath when he volunteered for the Worcesters in 1914. He was posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion and was sent out to Gallipoli in 1915. The original landings had turned into a stalemate which the new landings could not break. After the evacuation of the peninsula in January 1916t the 9th went to Mesopotamia to continue the war with the Turks and to relieve Kut. This was an equally difficult campaign up the Tigris in 1916 and the surrender of the small force at Kut lowered morale considerably. The Worcesters were occasionally on the attack and in attempting to reach an outpost named Sodom there were casualties and William Hackett died on the 28th June. He is commemorated on the Basra, Halesowen and Halesowen C of E school Memorials.